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Amateur Wrestler Sucker Punches Opponent After Defeat

As a sports lover and competitor, I simply cannot abide poor sportsmanship.  You get beat, you get beat.  Shake your opponent’s hand, dust yourself off and be better next time. …

Amateur Wrestler Sucker Punches Opponent After Defeat
Shutterstock/JoeSAPhotos

As a sports lover and competitor, I simply cannot abide poor sportsmanship.  You get beat, you get beat.  Shake your opponent's hand, dust yourself off and be better next time.  Now, poor sportsmanship is one thing, an amateur wrestler sucker punching his opponent because he couldn't deal with losing.  It isn't just repulsive, it's criminal.

This occurred recently in Des Plaines, Illinois.  Hafid Alicea (Maine West HS) got royally whipped in his wrestling match by Cooper Corder (SPAR Wrestling Academy), losing 14-2.  Things then took a dark and disgusting turn.  Alicea fakes a post-match handshake and floors Corder with one of the most heinous sucker punches of all time.

My first reaction was OMG, how did Corder's parents keep from killing this kid (that would have been my first impulse, I'm sure)?  My second was look, I get this is a kid, but you HAVE to get the authorities involved.  This cannot just be handled with punishment from the school (which HAS to come too, btw).  Legal action HAS been taken.

According to TMZ, The Oak Park Police Dept. officially issued Alicea, a 14-year-old eighth grader, a citation on Thursday.  The boy freely admitted to officers he punched his counterpart because "he was angry that he had lost the match."  Hafid Alicea now faces fines and penalties to be determinded in a hearing next month in Oak Park, Illinois.

The good news is that as bad as the sucker punch attack looked, Cooper Corder only suffered a bloody nose and declined any further medical attention.  So, in other words, he's fine.

These Are The 25 Best High Schools For Athletes In North Carolina

Choosing the right school for your child can feel like the most important decision in the world. It's a factor in where you purchase a home. Should you shell out the big bucks for private school education? How can you set your child up for success? So many parents stress about these decisions for years and years. And when your child is an athlete, regardless of it they are looking to play in college, that makes the decision that much harder. If your child has the potential to be a college athlete and potentially get a scholarship, you want to make sure they are in the best place possible to develop their skills and get noticed. Even if they are in it for fun, you still want them to have good coaches, and facilities and winning is nice too! How do you know the best High Schools for athletes in the state of North Carolina? Of course, you can look at the success of a specific team or program. State championships and players signed to college programs are certainly a reflection.

But we want to help you narrow it down. And Niche.com is here to help with rankings of schools and universities across the country. They recently released their 2023 rankings of schools. This includes K-12 as well as higher education. You can play around with the filters and view the rankings based on a variety of factors. One of those is a listing of the best high schools in for athletes in North Carolina. Which schools topped the list? Let's find out.

For this list, we are including public, private, and charter schools. And the overwhelming majority are actually public schools! Though the top 2 are private with one being in Charlotte. But where did these rankings come from you may ask? According to Niche:

If you're looking for the best school to send your athlete to hopefully this list will help you narrow it down. These are the 25 best schools in North Carolina for athletes.

25. James B. Dudley High School

District: Guilford County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Greensboro, NC

Division: 4A (All-Metro)

Total Number of Sports: 17

24. Jacksonville High School

District: Onslow County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Jacksonville, NC

Division: 3A (Big Carolina)

Total Number of Sports: 22

23. Wilkes Central High School

District: Wilkes County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Wilkesboro, NC

Division: 2A (Foothills)

Total Number of Sports: 19

22. Page High School

District: Guilford County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Greensboro, NC

Division: 4A (Metro)

Total Number of Sports: 24

21. Southeast Guilford High School

District: Guilford County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Greensboro, NC

Division: 4A (Metro)

Total Number of Sports: 23

20. West Forsyth High School

District: Forsyth County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Division: 4A (Central Piedmont)

Total Number of Sports: 12

19. Hibriten High School

District: Caldwell County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Lenoir

Division: 3A (Northwestern)

Total Number of Sports: 11

18. Mount Tabor High School

District: Forsyth County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Winston-Salem

Division: 4A (Central Piedmont)

Total Number of Sports: 14

17. North Davidson High School

District: Davidson County School

Type: Public

Location: Lexington

Division: 3A (Mid Piedmont)

Total Number of Sports: 9

16. Myers Park High School

District: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Type: Public

Location: Charlotte

Division: 4A (So. Meck)

Total Number of Sports: 11

15. Asheville High School

District: Asheville City Schools

Type: Public

Location: Asheville

Division: 4A (The Mountain)

Total Number of Sports: 22

14. Lincoln Charter School

District: N/A

Type: Public Charter School

Location: Lincolnton

Division: 2A (Catawba Shores)

Total Number of Sports: 21

13. Northern Guilford High School

District: Guilford County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Greensboro

Division: 4A (Metro)

Total Number of Sports: 23

12. Leesville Road High School

District: Wake County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Raleigh

Division: 4A (Cap 6)

Total Number of Sports: 25

11. South Point High School

District: Gaston County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Belmont

Division: 3A (Big South)

Total Number of Sports: 20

10. Cuthbertson High School

District: Union County Public Schools

Type: Public

Location: Waxhaw

Division: 4A (Southern California)

Total Number of Sports: 25

9. A.C. Reynolds High School

District: Buncombe County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Asheville

Division: 4A (The Mountain)

Total Number of Sports: 21

8. Mount Airy High School

District: Mount Airy City Schools

Type: Public

Location: Mount Airy

Division: 1A (Northwest)

Total Number of Sports: 20

7. Middle Creek High School

District: Wake County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Apex

Division: 4A (Southwest Wake)

Total Number of Sports: 25

6. Green Hope High School

District: Wake County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Cary

Division: 4A (Southwest Wake)

Total Number of Sports: 25

5. Marvin Ridge High School

District: Union County Public Schools

Type: Public

Location: Waxhaw

Division: 4A (Southern Carolina)

Total Number of Sports: 25

4. Wake Forest High School

District: Wake County Schools

Type: Public

Location: Wake Forest

Division: 4A (Northern Athletic)

Total Number of Sports: 25

3. Weddington High School

District: Union County Public Schools

Type: Public

Location: Weddington

Division: 4A (Southern Carolina)

Total Number of Sports: 25

2. Charlotte Catholic High School

District: N/A

Type: Private

Location: Charlotte

Division: 4A (Southwestern)

Total Number of Sports: 20

1. Cardinal Gibbons High School

District: N/A

Type: Private

Location: Raleigh

Division: 4A (Cap 6)

Total Number of Sports: 29

Charlie Nance is the Afternoon Drive co-host (along with his wife) of "The Charlie and Debbie Show" at WSOC, Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple have been with the radio station since 2006. Charlie has won the prestigious CMA (Country Music Association) Award for Radio Personality of the Year and has been a finalist for the Country Radio Hall of Fame four times. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Charlie (along with Debbie) spent more than a decade hosting successful morning radio shows in Greenville, SC; Augusta, Ga; and Birmingham, Al. As a content creator for Country 1037, Charlie writes about dream lottery windfalls, sports, restaurants and bars, and travel experiences in North and South Carolina.